Methaqualone is a sedative-hypnotic drug having the chemical name 2-methyl-3-o-tolyl-4(3H)-quinazolinone. It was introduced on the United States market in 1965 and, according to some recent commentators, has become subject to considerable abuse (Smith and Wesson, Ann. Rev. Pharmacol, 14, 513 (1974)).
Methaqualone is apparently extensively metabolized so that very little unchanged methaqualone is found in the urine. The metabolites are mostly glucuronides of monohydroxylated derivatives (Bonnichsen et al., Clin. Chim. Acta., 40, 309 (1972). Hydroxylation occurs mainly at the 3- and 4- positions and on the methyl group of tolyl moiety. It appears that the quinazoline ring system is largely unmodified in the metabolites.